This tool is available only in the Leads, Accounts, Contacts, Deals, Vendors, and custom modules.

1. Zoho CRM does not allow to save records with duplicate details in it when unique fields are determined. While creating a new record, if the value you enter is already available in the system, by the virtue of unique field determination, CRM will alert you and not let you save the record in the first place.
   
2. If there happens to be a scenario, where one entity enters CRM via multiple channels say webforms, API, and such, the chance of duplication occurs. 
   
3. In any case, if there are duplicates, you can resolve and auto-merge the records.
   

What is a Master record?

To merge duplicate records using the De-duplicate tool

1. Click the [Module] tab (e.g., Leads, Accounts, Contacts, and so on).
   
2. In the [Module] Home page, click Actions and select Deduplicate [Module].
   
3. In the Deduplicate [Module] page, click the fields by which you would like to search the duplicate records.
4. You can select up to three fields. CRM will search for duplicates based on these fields. 
   
   For example, if you select Email and Company, CRM will look for records in which the field values of Email and Company are the same.
   Note that fields that you have marked as unique appear here. If you have not marked unique fields, CRM will display a standard set of unique fields for the module.
5. Click Find and Merge Duplicates.
   
6. A Deduplicate [Module] popup appears. Click Yes, proceed.
   
7. A popup window informing you of the de-duplicate function appears. Click OK.
8. If the records contain identical values in the selected de-duplication field(s) and no conflicts are detected, CRM will automatically merge them. In that case, no further action is required from the user. CRM evaluates only the selected de-duplication field(s) when identifying records for auto-merge. Matching values in other fields are not considered unless those fields were included in the duplicate check criteria.
   Note that in the case of auto-merge, the record with the latest Last Activity Time will be considered the master record.
   
   If there is a conflict between the duplicates in any of the field values, you must resolve the conflict and then manually merge the records.
   

Resolve conflicts in de-duplication

• Resolve immediately - When CRM throws a popup on the conflict, you can immediately resolve it by click Resolve Now.
  
• Resolve later - If you are busy with other activities, click Do it later. You will be sent an email notification on the de-duplication details. Access the link to resolve conflict from this email. Note that this link will be valid only for three days.
  

1. As per the example in the introduction, there are three leads with the same field values. So in the Deduplicate Leads page, you can see that the records are listed as columns.
   
2. Select a Master Record. You can click Select All, if you wish to take all the master record values as final and merge the duplicates.
3. If not, click the radio buttons near the corresponding fields of other records to instruct CRM on which field values should be considered "final".
   
   The values thus selected appear under the Master Record column.
   
4. Once you have resolved the conflicting values, click Merge.
   A warning message is displayed, informing you of the consequences of the merging of records. Once you are sure, confirm the action.
   The duplicates will successfully be merged.